Remember those fabulous ’80s? The RNCC does

Cast your mind back to the summer of 1989. “Batman,” “When Harry Met Sally … ” and “Lethal Weapon II” ruled the box office. College kids were grooving to the Pixies’ “Doolittle” and the Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique.” Ronald Reagan had been out of the White House for just a few months, Iraq was one of those countries you would have had a hard time finding on the map, and Barack Obama was about to celebrate his 28th birthday.

This trip down Memory Lane was brought to you by the National Republican National Congressional Committee, which just put out a press release slamming 20th Congressional District Democratic candidate Scott Murphy for an editorial that appeared in Perspective, Harvard University’s left-leaning magazine.

In what the RNCC calls “Murphy’s alarming attacks on our nation’s military,” Perspective editorialized against ROTC’s return to the Harvard-Radcliffe campus — which might or might not be an issue that upstate families still argue over at the dinner table.

Murphy, then one of four senior editors at the magazine (not “the editor,” as he’s identified in the RNCC’s release), was one of three who signed the editorial. Here are the excerpts that the RNCC finds objectionable:

“The values enforced by the military — submission to authority, unquestioning obedience, and a hierarchy of power — are contrary to the University’s values of independence, thoughtful inquiry, and equality for all.”

“Bringing ROTC on campus is not the best way of helping the economically disadvantaged.”

“We, as editors of Perspective, firmly believe all people should have the right to choose whether or not to be in the military, but we believe a university must not sanction a philosophy that is founded on an unquestioning submission to authority.”

Do yourself a favor and read the whole thing, which the RNCC to its credit sent along.

There are two possibilities here: Either the RNCC is preparing to uncork a series of much more controversial editorials from Perspective (which Murphy took over in 1991), or the committee’s oppo research team is, as they continue to say on college campuses, down to seeds and stems. (Coming soon from the RNCC: “Scott Murphy’s Anti-Woman Rant: In 1977 note to third-grade colleague, Democrat claims they ‘have cooties’ and ‘are gross.’ “)